What is wear...?
XpipedreamR
Posts: 8,059 ✭✭
...as in a coin becoming "worn down."
What exactly is happening to the coin? Is silver being gradually removed from the coin, so that an extremely worn coin would be appreciably lighter than its MS counterpart?
Or are the features of the coin simply being squished back down, sort of a reversal of the minting process?
What exactly is happening to the coin? Is silver being gradually removed from the coin, so that an extremely worn coin would be appreciably lighter than its MS counterpart?
Or are the features of the coin simply being squished back down, sort of a reversal of the minting process?
0
Comments
Along those lines, it explains a few things:
--Regular wear goes from the high points to the low points--the highest is what is contacted by something first.
--Lustre is broken with wear. Put a little wear in the field, the metal flow is smoothed out, and lustre is lost in that spot. The more wear, the less lustre
Jeremy
42/92
<< <i>But where does the metal go? It's not like you rub a coin and you see the metal just come off.
>>
Onto your skin, your clothes, etc... we're talking about rubbing off microscopically thin amounts at a time--that's why it takes so long to notice wear... that's a LOT of microscopic layers before you notice it... that said, clad coins wear much more slowly than silver or gold because clad is so much harder.
<< <i>I had a few other ideas for a benchmark of age, but this is a family forum
I know the laws of NJ... the answer is you need to be 16
<< <i>I know that the process of wear is very gradual, but seriously, I always wondered where the "metal" went from the wear due to circulation. Since a heavily worn coins weighs slightly less than a MS example, this means some of the metal comes off. But where does the metal go? It's not like you rub a coin and you see the metal just come off. >>
like a file or emery cloth only a LOT less
It is concentrated on the highest points simply because other areas are protected by
being under those points which come into direct contact with most of the agents causing
wear. The way an individual coin wears can vary significantly due to the source of the
friction or its type. Coins which spend a long time in a casino take on a very different app-
earance than one which is carried as a pocket piece. Circulation wear will usually wear
down a coin very evenly since much of this is like polishing which occurs in pockets. Often
coins will acquire tarnish, scratches, or get signs of other mishaps so sometimes nice at-
tractive low grade coins can be hard to find. Other coins (like cents) have an extremely
low probability of surviving long enough to reach low grade before they are lost or destroyed.
There will tend to be little difference in the rate of wear to circulating issues because it is
determined mostly by the time one spends in circulation and over the long term there is a
tendency for all coins of an issue to spend the same lenght of time in circulation unless acted
on by collectors or hoarders.
Generally heavily worn coins have lost about 3% of their weight but it's possible to lose
more and still be identifiable.
As metal is removed from the surface and the coin becomes thinner problems with strike
and hubbing will gradually fade. Mishaps also can completely disappear as the evidence
is ground away.
them together between your finger and thumb for a few minutes. Your fingers will get
progressively blacker.